The First Snakebite
by LittleMonsoon
Summary: In the days before she had any pet snakes of her own, Lana discovers firsthand the dangers of picking up wild serpents.
1. Chapter 1

Lana Loud didn't always have pet snakes.

There was a time before sheaths of shedded reptile skin lay discarded like dirty socks across the floor of her room when Lana had no true pets of her own. Sure, there was Cliff and Charles and Walt and Geo, and of course she loved them, but they belonged to the family as a whole. What Lana longed for more than anything was to care for another creature all on her own. To develop a bond with an animal that relied on her and looked to her as its mother just as she looked to it as her child. Her heart was an empty menagerie yearning for beasts to fill its chambers.

Not just with common creatures, like cats and dogs, but more exotic fare. Reptiles were a favorite of hers', especially snakes. True, she didn't know much about them other than that she found them endlessly fascinating, but what difference did that make when she had so much love to offer? What difference did that make when she knew in her heart that she would make such a wonderful mother to a serpent of her own?

There came a day when she resolved once and for all to have one.

Three knocks sounded at Lisa's door one summer morning, and before she gave permission for her to do so Lana swung wide the door and entered with a carefree spring in her step. Even back then Lisa's room was a place that constantly smelt of chemical fire, a by-product of the countless experiments Lisa had already conducted through her young life. The small genius sat at a desk that was cluttered with loose papers scribbled over with various scientific formulas and observations. The floor too was a mess of books and broken test tubes with multi-colored liquids leaking out and mixing into compounds no doubt toxic. These were days before Lily had entered into their lives, and Lisa had the whole space to herself to do with as she saw fit.

"Hi Lisa," Lana cheerfully greeted.

Lisa had been sitting at her desk, peeking through a microscope at organisms with cilia swimming through iodine between twin panels of glass. Without shifting her focus away from the device, she asked, "what do you want?" in a clipped voice.

Where others might have been insulted by such a question, delivered in such a dismissive tone, Lana had learned over time not to take her sister's abrasive personality personally. Besides, she was too excited by the day ahead to let Lisa's usual terseness dampen her spirits. "Leni's taking me to the park," she said, "and Lola's too busy working on her dumb pageant stuff to join us. Wanna come? It'll be fun!"

Lisa took her eyes from the microscope and stared at her sister, mulling over her options. She wasn't really one for "fun," as others conventionally understood it, and the idea of playground games didn't exactly do much to excite her. On the other hand, she had been cooped up inside the last few days and was starting to feel the effects of the doldrums. A change of scenery could be just what she needed to refresh her mind.

"I suppose this would be a good opportunity to conduct a little field research," she said, much to Lana's delight.

Pausing only to grab a notebook and pen from the mess on her desk, Lisa joined Lana and walked into the hallway, where Leni was already waiting for them.

The older girl bent down with her hands on her knees, flashing a smile that Lisa found patronizing but that Lana matched with a full grin of her own, this being before her two incisors fell out.

"Hey guys!" Leni said, "Ready to go have a fun day at the park?"

* * *

They walked the short distance between their home and the park, a vibrant area of freshly mown green fields perfect for playing tag and high trees perfect for climbing. They arrived to the sound of children running around a playground where no doubt later on Lana would beg Leni to push her on a swing or try to convince Lisa to help her build a castle in the sandbox. For now though she had something else in mind as she led her sisters along a dirt path.

East of the playground, near an area littered with picnic tables and public grills blackened over with char, was a gradual ridge that sloped down into a small creek, where spears of sunlight beamed through the leaves of the tall trees, illuminating the specks of pollen and dandelion seeds that floated through the air. It was a meagre excuse for a creek, more of a glorified trickle of water really, but to Lana it flowed with the strength of the Amazon and contained just as exotic wildlife. At the sight of it she ran excitedly down to its bank, peering down in the water in the hopes of finding some interesting insect or fish.

Lisa had similar ideas. She took the notepad and pen from her pocket and set about examining the moss that grew on the trees and stones, making little notes and diagrams on the paper, the occasional hum escaping her lips at the sight of some particularly fascinating specimen.

By the edge of the water Leni unfurled a blanket, brought so she wouldn't have to dirty her dress on the park ground, and sat down. Content to simply feel the warmth of the sun rays on her face and listen to the chirping of distant birds and the flow of the stream, she watched her younger sisters with a smile on her face, glad to see them clearly having such a good time. Or at least, Lana was clearly having a good time. Lisa was never really good at showing any outward signs of joy. She walked along with her face never shifting from it's studious expression. Still, Leni knew that Lisa was having her own sort of fun, and that was good enough for her. "Stay where I can see you guys!" she'd call now and again whenever they wandered too far, and they'd return to her line of sight without question.

Lana knelt by the water a few moments, mesmerized by the gerridae skipping their way across the surface of the stream, before getting bored and going off in search of more interesting creatures. She stood up and, with an eye toward the opposite bank, stepped onto one of the large rocks in the creek. She leapt then from stone to stone like she were playing hopscotch, picturing in her imagination that one tiny slip was all it would take for her to meet a watery death in rushing white river rapids. The reality was more likely a skinned elbow or bruised knee, which was apparently dangerous enough for Leni, as she called out "Lana, be careful!" And with that, Lana stopped midway across the stream.

Even without the warning she would've halted anyway after seeing what was laying at the bottom of a shallow pool between two rocks. Stars in her eyes, Lana leaned down and saw a crayfish under the water, its maroon shell glistening in the refracted light.

She reached into the water and plucked it from the stream in one fell motion. Between two fingers she held it by the carapace as its many swimmerets and legs twitched along as though it were trying to swim away, its claws going snipper-snap at the air. Lana sat there, fascinated by the almost clockwork quality of its movements, and considered showing it to Leni. She quickly thought better of it though. After all, with its many legs and insectile frame, it bore more than a passing resemblance to a monstrous type of spider, and she didn't want her older sister to run off screaming. With a sigh, she set it back into the water, where it swam away with the current.

That's when she spotted what she had come to the park in the first place for.

Laying on the opposite shore was a snake, about two feet long with dark square blotches along the length of its body. It basked in a sunbeam with its brown scales shimmering, as though God were shining a light on it to make it easier for Lana to discover. Carefully, so as not to worry Leni, she crossed over the rest of the way to the other side of the creek until she was standing again on grass and soil and could see the serpent ever closer, though she was still a fair distance away.

There was a show Lana enjoyed watching more than any other, a wildlife program hosted by a cheerful Australian man who traveled the world to showcase nature's deadliest - and most beautiful - creatures. What she loved most about the series was the respect paid to the animals. The host was no hunter, but someone who clearly loved all that slithered and crawled on the earth and wanted the rest of the world to share his adoration. It was an attitude she took to heart as she walked closer.

She imagined herself on safari, camera trained on her face as she watched the snake, which didn't seem to notice her presence. "Crikey!" she whispered under her breath in her best Australian accent before turning to address her imaginary audience, "looks like we've stumbled upon the rare Burmese Python, one of the most dangerous snakes in the world! Ain't she a beauty? Let's go in for a closer look, shall we?"

She was only able to take a single step before she heard Leni's voice calling behind her. "Whatcha lookin' at, Lana?" Turning around, she saw her sister crossing the creek just as she did, one rock at a time, an awkward and slow task due to her wearing sandals.

Unable to contain her excitement, Lana smiled her widest grin and pointed to her discovery. "I found this really cool snake! Come check it out, Leni!"

Instantly the older girl tensed up, her eyes going wide and all color draining from her face as she froze in place, still a few feet away from the bank of the creek. Casting her eyes to where Lana was pointing, she saw the serpent, and while it was still only laying peacefully in the grass the sight of it made her blood run cold. Snakes weren't quite on the level of spiders as far as she was concerned in terms of nightmare material, but she still wanted to keep her distance from the slithery beast as much as possible.

"How about we go play on the teeter-totter or something instead?" she suggested, though it came out like a plead.

"In a minute, I wanna get a better look."

"Now, Lana," Leni said in reply, her voice firmer.

Lana only groaned in exasperation, rolling her eyes and stomping her foot and making a big show of her displeasure, but didn't budge from her spot. "Come on! I've always wanted to see a wild snake." She clasped her hands together and jutted out her lower lip in a pout, widening her doe-like eyes until they glimmered brightly. At the sight of such a face, so innocent and waif-like, Leni felt her resolve weaken, though she could still feel a certain sense of danger throbbing in the back of her mind.

Finally she sighed. "Okay," she relented, though she still sounded unsure, "just don't get any closer. Look, don't touch."

It was, she thought, a fair compromise, which is why she couldn't help but feel alarmed when Lana dismissively waved her hand, as if swatting the order away. "No way," she said, almost cockily, "I'm taking this baby home with me as a pet!"

"Lana, you don't know what kind of snake that is. It could be dangerous!" By now panic was seeping into her voice.

Despite Leni's obvious worry, Lana remained blasé, smiling confidently as she said, "Aw, don't worry! I'm great with animals. I'm like a reptile whisperer!"

Light confusion briefly became intermixed with Leni's feelings of dread. "But, snakes don't have ears," she wondered aloud. Before she had time to think too deeply about Lana's statement, however, she saw her sister approaching the reptile without a care. Alarmed, Leni forced herself to move, and though the river rocks were slick she was able to reach the bank within a few seconds.

She ran the rest of the short distance between Lana and her, intending to scoop the little girl into her arms before she could get her hands on the scaly creature. But by the time Leni was about to catch her, Lana had already bent down and took the serpent in her hands.

With a harsh hiss the snake was lifted into the air and swung around, Lana's tiny fist around its neck. Now face to face with the reptile, Leni shrieked and jumped back in fright, heart pounding in her chest. "Lana," she began, slowly as she was still catching her breath, "I want you to put that down right now."

Lana remained unworried. She loosened her grip slightly so as not to choke it but still kept a firm hold. She held it up so its gaping-mouthed face was staring into her own, and she became almost transfixed looking into its eyes, those large glassy orbs that to her were like a dog's, so full of life and warmth and… something else. Something Lana felt in the back of her mind as a twinge of fear. But why, she asked herself, would it be afraid? After all, didn't it know that it was about to be given a loving home, to be doted on for the rest of its life and cared for? Surely, she just imagined the spark of terror in its marble eyes. Looking again, she convinced herself all she could find was love staring back at her. In fact, Lana had an inkling that if her big sister would just hold the snake herself and feel those soft eyes piercing her own she too would see there was nothing to be afraid of. "You don't have to be scared, Leni," Lana said, turning from her new friend to face her sister, "He's completely harm-"

Just then a jolting pain shot like a lightning strike through Lana's hand, and her words gave way to a harsh intake of air through her teeth, a hiss not unlike that the snake had given as it was lifted up. Tears welled up immediately in her eyes, though at first she didn't bawl. Instead she only looked back to the snake, turning her head slowly as though afraid of what she'd see. While trying to assure Leni of its tameness, it had sunk its fangs into the fleshy part of her hand, just under the thumb. What was worse was that it wasn't just a quick nip, but a vice-like latching-on, as though it were stuck. The rest of its body dangled off her hand, writhing slightly. Lana only stood there a few seconds, hyperventilating, too shocked to hear Leni shout her name with worry and run to her. Then she screamed, tears flowing from her wincing eyes as she fell to her knees.

Leni, concern for her sister overwhelming her desire to keep her distance from the snake, knelt down on the dirt and hugged Lana tightly, not caring that she could feel scales brushing against her skin and blood staining her dress as she tried to speak reassuringly to her. Lana was still too much in a daze to register just what she was saying, but could tell that they were words of comfort. After a moment of being soothed she was able to calm down, and though the bite still hurt she no longer sobbed but only whimpered lightly and sniffled.

"It's not that bad," Lana said, though her grimace suggested otherwise. "Maybe I can just…" she took the snake by the end of the tail with her free hand and gave a gentle tug. Instead of loosening the snake it only bit down harder, sending a fresh jolt through Lana's hand as she felt the puncture mark tear slightly wider open. She quickly let go, fresh tears running down her cheeks, and the snake relaxed, though not enough to stop biting entirely. "Nope, that just made it worse," she said through gritted teeth.

A clicking of a pen alerted the two girls to Lisa's presence a few feet away, and they briefly took their eyes from the wound to look to her. She still held her notebook, and at the sight of the snake she turned to a blank page. No histrionics, no worried look. If anything, she seemed only fascinated, as though this were all some unexpected but welcome variable in some grand experiment. "Ah, I see you've encountered nerodia sipedon," she said, getting close enough to examine the snake up close, "street name: the northern water snake." No hint of concern lilted in her voice as she jotted down measurements and observations on the paper. "This is a fascinating specimen."

"Lisa!" Leni said, shooting the young genius a harsh glare, "this isn't the time." Gently cupping her sister's tear-stained cheeks with her hands, Leni turned Lana's face back towards her's and put on the most sympathetic smile she could muster. "Don't worry Lana. Everything's going to be okay." She then reached into her pocket and, after digging around a moment, produced her phone.

"What are you doing?" Lana asked.

"Calling 9-1-1," Leni replied as she fiddled around with entering her passcode on the lock screen, "We need to get you to the hospital."

"That may not be necessary," Lisa interrupted, not bothering with looking up from her notes.

"Of course it's necessary!" Leni nearly shouted. Ordinarily she didn't mind Lisa's aloofness, but in such an urgent circumstance she couldn't help but sound exasperated by her youngest sister's uncaring attitude, "This thing could be poisonous."

"Venomous, Leni," Lisa corrected, rolling her eyes slightly as she finished making her marks on the page, "the proper term is venomous. And ordinarily, where I not certain what kind of snake we were dealing with, I'd agree with you. But I know for a fact that the only venomous snake in Michigan is the eastern massasauga rattlesnake, which this clearly isn't."

"How can you be sure?" Lana asked.

"No rattle, for one thing," she said, dryly, as that much was obvious. "Plus, once we take into account the environment, the markings along its body, and its size, this is clearly a harmless Northern Water snake." Another glare, this time from both her sisters, was shot at her direction at that descriptor. "Well, okay, maybe not quite so harmless if you go about picking them up in the wild. But still. Non-venomous. Furthermore, if my memory's correct, Lana's had her tetanus booster in the last year, is that right?"

"Yeah," Lana answered. She still remembered the sting of the needle as it pierced her bicep, a similar pain to what she was feeling now in her hand, though at least the shot was over and done with in an instant instead of the drawn out ache the snake bite was giving her.

"Then as long as we remove the snake and clean and dress the wound, Lana should be absolutely fine."

"You're sure?" Leni pressed, almost desperately, "Absolutely, one-hundred-and-ten percent sure that this snake isn't pois- I mean, venomous?"

"Leni, I do not. Make. Errors."

"Well…" Leni began, coming around to Lisa's proposal, "I _am_ very good at dressing things up…"

"To dress, in this case, simply means to bandage her hand."

"Oh, right, I knew that," Leni lied. "So, like, what do we do now?"

"We start by going back to the house. Everything we need to treat the wound is there."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" With that, Leni wrapped an arm around Lana and lifted her from the ground, clearly with the intention to carry her home. Lisa readied herself to follow behind, but found herself being raised into the air as well.

"What are you doing!?" Lisa yelled, kicking slightly in her attempt to get free.

"I know you don't like being held, Lisa," Leni said sympathetically, already carefully making her way back across the creek, "but if this is how we help Lana then we need to get home as soon as we can, and you're just not fast enough to follow behind. Now please, hold on tight to me, okay?"

Smart as she was, Lisa was able to see a certain logic in Leni's statement. She resigned herself to clutch her arms around Leni's torso as Lana had already done. Before she knew it they were across the water, and as soon as they were back on dry soil Leni ran off towards home, leaving her blanket behind on the grass.


	2. Chapter 2

There were times, when properly motivated, when Leni was capable of running as swiftly as Lynn, most often when rushing from one end of the mall to another to take advantage of a sale just before closing. Today, however, the thought of Lana in danger was enough to pump her system with adrenaline, and within minutes she was already bursting through the front door of her house, taking great big strides as she ran up the stairs to the bathroom at Lisa's command. Once there, she set her sisters down, motioning for Lana to take a seat on the toilet while Lisa stood in the corner, ready to supervise.

"Alright, so what now?" Leni asked.

"Get the mouth wash."

"Lisa, your breath is fine. We need to focus on helping Lana right now."

"It's not for me, its for the snake. Mouth wash will make it release."

Leni still didn't quite understand, but figured that asking more questions would just waste time. Besides, as far as she was concerned, she had no real reason to doubt a girl who spent her spare time researching string theory. With a nod, Leni set to work digging through the cluttered medicine cabinet, pulling aside half empty tubes of toothpaste and jars of ointments in her search. As she did, she heard the sound of fourteen feet stomping through the hallway outside the bathroom. Sparing only a glance over her shoulder before returning her attention to the cabinet, Leni saw the rest of her family, minus her parents, crowded around the door, most of them looking confused or irritated. No doubt Leni's mad dash to the bathroom had interrupted whatever they had been doing.

"What is going on in here?" Lori demanded, but at the sight of the snake instantly her demeanor changed to one of worry, just as it did for the rest of her siblings. A collective gasp echoed through the room as they watched blood leak out of Lana's hand onto the black and white linoleum floor, and all at once Lana found herself surrounded on all sides by her sisters and brother. It was a tight squeeze, all ten of them in one tiny space, but they were too preoccupied fawning over Lana, making a huge fuss over her condition, to notice how cramped it was. They were all speaking at once in voices soft and compassionate, almost infantile in the way they doted on her. Someone was gently stroking her hair, others were tenderly rubbing her shoulders and back in soothing gestures, and Lola, usually so bratty, had wrapped her arms around her twin's neck in a hug.

"Oh, you poor thing," Lori said, all annoyance in her voice having melted into a motherly tone. She knelt in front of Lana, taking her free hand and holding it between both of hers'. "How badly does it hurt?"

"Only a little now," Lana answered, and it was the truth. Once the initial shock wore off, she discovered that the bite itself wasn't actually that painful, akin to a sharp pinch. More uncomfortable than anything else.

"I guess you could say this is a really _scaly_ situation, eh? Get it?" Nine voices groaning at once filled the air at Luan's pun.

"Do you need me to suck any poison out?" Lucy asked. "We could pretend I'm a vampire turning you into one of my undead minions."

"There is no poison, Lucy," Lisa said in a tired voice, and it suddenly hit Lana how of all her siblings, Lisa was the only one not even attempting to make a show of her concern. All of the others were practically smothering her with their attempts at consoling her, making a big show of their emotional support through this frightening experience, and Lisa only stood in the corner, eyes half drooped and arms crossed as though she found the proceedings exceedingly boring.

 _Doesn't she care about me?_ Lana wondered. Lisa always made a point of telling everyone how little she cared for human emotions. Did that extend to love, even for her family?

Lana could only consider such questions for a moment before Leni triumphantly shouted "Got it!" and rushed back to her side, nearly-empty bottle of mouth wash in her hands.

"What's that stuff for?" Lincoln asked.

"Lisa said it will make the snake let go," she said, though she didn't sound too convinced. Turning back to her youngest sister, she asked, "what next?"

"Simply pour a little bit over its mouth. A drop should do it."

"This isn't going to poison the snake, is it?" Lana asked, a hint of alarm slipping into her voice. Most of the others awww'd at the question. There the snake was, digging its teeth into her hand, and Lana was still more concerned for its safety than her own. From Lola to Lori they all thought her a big-hearted animal lover.

Lisa, of course, was less sentimental. "It'll live," she bluntly stated.

"Yeah Lana, don't worry," Leni happily said as she poured the small amount of liquid in the bottle into the cap, "this will just make his breath nice and fresh for his next date." Just as she was about to pour a few drops onto the snakes head, Lori reached out and halted her sister's hand.

"Wait! if we're gonna do this, shouldn't we do it over a bucket or something so it doesn't go slithering on the floor and bite someone else?"

"I'm on it," Luna said. She grabbed the small tin garbage can under the sink, removing the trash filled bag and tossing it aside. She went back and held it under Lana's hand, and with everything in order Leni finally splashed a few green mint-smelling droplets near the snake's mouth.

The effect was instantaneous. Immediately the snake unclenched its jaws and let out a pained hiss as it slid off of Lana's arm into the basket below. There it coiled upon itself, flicking its tongue inside and out of its mouth as though nothing had happened.

"Woah, I guess they should start calling this stuff _hiss_ -terine! Hahaha, get it?" This was one of those rare times when many of the others chuckled at one of Luan's jokes, albeit more as a sigh of relief than because they actually found it funny. Lana, however, was too busy staring down into the garbage can to laugh. She observed the snake, trying to check for signs of injury, and as far as she could tell it seemed absolutely fine. The sight of it there, wrapped around its own body, called to Lana's mind an old black and white film she once saw on TV with her parents. A scene stuck with her of a stop motion cobra rising and swaying its way out of a wicker basket at the sound of a charmer's flute, and for a second she was tempted to ask Luna if she would be willing to give such a thing a try. She quickly thought better of it, however.

"Where did this happen?" Luna asked.

"Down by the creek at the park," Lana said. Hanging her head slightly in shame, she added, "Leni tried to get me to leave it alone, but I wouldn't listen."

"It's okay Lana," Leni said, "It's all over now."

Garbage can held an arm's length in front of her body, Luna made her way to the door, only pausing a moment when she heard Lana ask, "where are you going?"

"Down along the creek. I'm gonna release this thing back into the wild where it belongs."

"Alright," Lori said, "just be careful. We don't want it biting you too."

"And don't hurt it," Lana added.

Luna flashed her little sister an easy smile. "I won't. I promise." With that, she left the room. The others watched her go before Lori brought their attention back to the matter at hand. Namely, Lana's hand.

"Alright guys, let's finish getting Lana all patched up." Inspecting where the snake had bitten her sister, Lori saw twin puncture marks where bright red blood flowed freely. "God, that's a lot of blood," she whispered, sounding almost frightened. "Lynn, do you still have those bandages in your room from when you took up boxing?"

"Yeah."

"Go get them please." As soon as the order was finished, Lynn ran out the room as fast as her feet could carry her. "As for you," Lori said, turning back to Lana, "we need to wash your hands."

"Awww, do I have to?" Lana whined.

"Yes Lana, I'm afraid so. Come on, I'll help you up." Too short to reach the sink without assistance, Lana resigned herself to having Lori wrap her arms around her midsection and hoist her up. Once she was high enough, Lana turned on the faucet and squirted a hearty supply of liquid soap into her palm. She tried working up a lather, but as soon as she began rubbing her hands together she felt a fresh pain in the injury. Of course, as she was cleaning out an open wound, she expected it to hurt somewhat, but this was of a different caliber entirely. Almost as though there was something still inside her hand, under the skin. Before she could clean herself, she darted her hands away from the water and winced.

"Lana," Lori said firmly, "I know you don't like washing your hands but this is important."

"But it hurts!"

"I'm sure it does, but if it gets infected it's going to hurt a lot more."

"No, I mean it feels like there's something still in there. It kinda feels like a splinter."

"Let me see." Lori set Lana down and inspected the laceration again, keeping an eye out for anything strange. Sure enough, in one of the marks she could make out a thin, almost translucent sliver of something stuck in the flesh, though it was hard to see as it was obscured by all the blood.

"It's probably one of the serpent's teeth," Lisa said. "Lana tried to pull the snake loose at first, which likely dislodged one of its fangs." Though she knew her sister was just stating the facts, Lana couldn't help but feel as though Lisa was blaming her, as if she were saying this whole mess was her fault. In a sense, Lana supposed it was, and that revelation brought a fresh wind of shame to blow over her. At least until she felt Lola holding her hand.

"Hold still," she said, and Lana could see that she was holding a pair of tweezers in her fingers, click-clacking them together in a way that reminded Lana of the crayfish and its claws at the stream.

"Where did those come from?"

"I went to go get these as soon as you said you felt something like a splinter. Usually I keep them in my room for when I need to shape my eyebrows for pageants, but they should work well for this too."

She gingerly brought down the tweezers on the wound, trying and failing a few times to grip onto the tooth as Lana winced slightly at each attempt. Her eyebrows furrowed and her tongue stuck out of her mouth at an askew angle as she focused on the task before her, blood flowing freely onto her gloves. Not that she seemed to notice.

"Lola, you're getting blood all over your pageant clothes," Lana said, and for an absurd moment she had a fear that her twin would yell and throw a tantrum at the thought of her clothes being ruined.

Instead, Lola didn't even glance up from what she was doing. "I don't care about that, silly," she said, "now shush, I'm trying to concentrate."

Finally she got a firm hold of the tooth and plucked it free, and like a cork being taken out of the neck of a wine bottle upside down, the removal of the fang seemed to unleash a fresh geyser of blood. Acting quickly, Lori once again lifted Lana up to wash her hands, which she was able to now do with only mild discomfort. She cleaned herself for several minutes, watching blood and dirt intermingle with the water and soap as it all swirled down the drain in a mini whirlpool, the spiral calling to mind the image of the snake wrapped around itself at the bottom of the trash bin.

When she finished the blood was only a slow trickle, much like the creek itself where the injury was born. When Lori set her down, Lynn was already waiting for her with a roll of bandages in her clasp. Wasting no time, she unspooled a length of the gauze and set to work wrapping it around Lana's hand.

"You know," Lynn said, smiling slyly, "sometimes Lucy's bats like to bite me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And every time they do, it still hurts, but by now I'm kind of used to it. But the first time, hoo boy. I was crying my eyes out like a baby. And I was way older than you were when that happened." She finished applying the bandage, leaving Lana's hand wrapped in a layer of white nearly a centimeter thick. "Point being, you handled this really well, Lana. You're the toughest girl I know. Way tougher than me." For the first time since the snake first sunk its teeth into her, Lana managed a weak smile that Lynn returned. "Feel any better?"

"A little…" Lana said. In truth, physically she felt almost completely fine. What was still wounded was her pride. She had this picture of herself in her mind as the reptile whisperer, as a friend to all that slithered. But when it came time for her to actually handle a snake, she made a huge mess of things. It was as though the snake not only punctured her flesh, but also her self-image.

Fortunately, before she could dwell on her deflated ego for too long, she felt her hand being lifted up. That's when Lynn, usually such a stranger to displays of kindness, pressed a quick kiss onto the bandage. "How about now?" she asked.

"Yeah, that feels even better now," Lana said, smiling ever wider.

One by one all the rest of her siblings lined up to to kiss her hand, and with every brush of lips against her injury Lana felt her spirits being raised higher and higher. Were she Lincoln's age, she'd perhaps have felt more than a little embarrassed at what was happening. But in a moment of clarity, she thought to herself that she should be thankful to still be so young where she could accept kisses from her loved ones without having to feel ashamed. Finally, after Lori delivered her peck, Lana cast an expectant eye towards Lisa, who had watched the display with no change of expression. She continued to stand still, not even acknowledging the look of anticipation on her sister's face.

A moment of awkward silence followed, which was only broken when Lincoln asked, "Lisa, aren't you going to give Lana a kiss too?"

"That would have no medical benefit," Lisa said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some data from my expedition to the creek earlier that I'd like to analyze." Without another word or even a glance over her shoulder, Lisa walked out of the bathroom, and though Lana could still feel the love radiating from her other sisters and brother, Lisa's coldness couldn't help but make the snake bite sting anew, if only slightly.

* * *

That night, after the house had settled back into its familiar rhythms following the day's events, Lana once again knocked on Lisa's door and entered, a sheepish look on her face. She wore a fresh bandage, almost immaculately white other than two tiny pin-pricks of blood that had seeped through. Lana stood in the doorway, waiting for Lisa to turn her attention away from her notes. Evidently she had been sitting at her desk the last few hours, copying her various observations from one notebook to another, complete with diagrams and drawings too complicated for Lana to understand.

Finally, Lisa looked up from her papers and looked Lana in the eye. "I heard our parental units took you to the hospital, is that correct?"

"Yeah," Lana answered. Moments after the ordeal in the bathroom, Rita and Lynn Sr pulled into the driveway. When they entered the house Lana ran to tell them all about what happened, excited to recount the events that not even an hour prior seemed so frightening. Rather than appearing entertained by the story, they both seemed horrified, quickly rushing Lana into Vanzilla for a trip to the emergency room.

"And?"

Lana shrugged. "Nothin'. They said I should be fine and to come back if I notice any changes. They also said to keep it clean, which I guess means no playing in the mud for a while." She kicked at the ground, disappointed but resigned to her fate.

"Well, I suppose it's always better to be safe than sorry," was all Lisa said in reply. She returned to her work, not noticing that Lana was walking closer until she was right beside her, looking over her shoulder. "Can I help you with something?"

"How'd you get to know so much about snakes?" Lana asked.

"Herpetology is a science, just like any other. I don't pretend to be an expert, but I do find the study of reptiles rather fascinating."

Lana stood a moment, processing the words, and an awkward tension filled the room. Just as Lisa was preparing to ask her sister politely, yet firmly, to leave, Lana spoke again, this time in a halting, quiet manner. "Do you think…maybe…you can teach me a few things? About snakes? Today showed me I don't really know a whole lot about them, and if I'm going to keep them as pets one day I should learn as much as I can, shouldn't I?"

Lisa could hardly believe her ears. What she knew about psychology dictated that a traumatic experience at such a young age would instill a fear of snakes for the rest of Lana's life, and yet even after everything that had happened earlier that day, her older sister still had her fixation. The whole prospect seemed quite illogical from where she was standing. "Seriously? You still want to care for snakes? After today?"

"Well, yeah," Lana said, as if the question were ridiculous.

"But why?"

For a while Lana just stood there, struggling to find a way to put her feelings into words. She wanted to convey to Lisa how beautiful she found the creatures, with their shimmering scales that seemed to almost glimmer magically in the light. Their slender frames, so elegant and majestic, for truly they were, in their way, perfectly formed beings. Most of all though, she wanted Lisa to understand just how much life she saw looking into the eyes of the snake that bit her. How even after it had dug its teeth into her, one look into those eyes was all she needed to know that it was an innocent animal, having acted only out of self defense or some misdirected attempt to feed, not with any malice. But these emotions were all too complicated for her young mouth to speak, so instead she only shrugged again and said, "They're cool. And I'm not gonna let one bite keep me from learning about something I like."

That was apparently a good enough answer for Lisa. "You know," she said, "sometimes, when I'm doing an experiment, I fail many, many times. So many times, that I often think it'll be easier to just give up. But I keep at it, because I know that each failure holds a lesson and helps me learn more, and in the end I know that the results will be worth it." A blank look from her sister followed her words, and Lisa realized it would probably be better just to spell out her point. "All this to say; yes, Lana, I'll teach you about snakes."

Lana beamed in delight at the prospect and jumped at Lisa with a hug, squeezing tightly for a moment before pulling away. Afterwards, she prepared to pull up one of the spare chairs in the room to sit next to her at the desk, but paused when she felt Lisa's hand grip her shoulder.

"But first, I wanted to apologize," she said, voice wavering slightly.

"What for?"

"For not kissing your hand earlier."

"It's okay," Lana said. In truth she had half forgotten Lisa's cold gesture earlier that day, but to be reminded of it brought a tiny ache to her heart. Still though, an apology at this point seemed kind of unnecessary as far as she was concerned. "I mean, you're the one who actually knew how to get the snake off of me in the first place. I guess giving me a kiss wouldn't actually do anything."

To her surprise, Lisa was shaking her head. "No, I've had time to think it over, and I realized something. Even if it would've had no true medicinal qualities, one should never underestimate the psychosomatic effects of a kiss from a loved one in times of pain."

"What's psycho-schematics mean?"

"Never mind. Now, give me your hand."

Lana did as she was told and presented her hand to her sister, who quickly pressed a kiss onto the bandage. And though the pain had faded away hours ago, at the feel of the contact of Lisa's lips Lana felt even better than before. The pair of them smiled at each other a few seconds, and for one brief moment Lana could practically feel the wave of love emanating from her little sister. Then Lisa cleared her throat slightly and returned to her usual demeanor. "Now then, if you're ready, let's begin."

They spoke all through the night of scales and forked tongues and unhinging jaws. Of venoms and rattles and transparent brilles over eyes. For months they met together for lessons, Lisa proving a fantastic teacher, to Lana's surprise. She half expected her sister to be condescending, to treat these sessions as being far beneath her intellectual level, but instead Lisa seemed to light up during their time together, as though there were no greater joy in her life than imparting knowledge to others.

In addition to what Lisa was teaching her, Lana spent much of her free time reading books and watching videos about snakes. Many a night was spent under the covers of her bed with a flashlight illuminating the glossy pages of nature magazines, her face filled with wonder as she read of boas and pythons and cobras and all sorts of serpents. It wasn't long before it was Lana teaching Lisa all the wonderful things she knew of reptiles. It was a rare thing to know more than Lisa on a subject, and Lana took great pride in her newfound wisdom.

The day finally came, long after the bite marks on her hand had faded into scars, when Lana went with her parents and Lisa to the local pet store at the mall to pick out a reptile of her very own, a docile little corn snake she gently took into her hands. It was the first of many more to come. And as she held it, feeling its smooth scales as its muscles seemed to relax and it became comfortable in her grip, she spared a glance back to her parents and sister. All three of them were smiling with pride, though Lisa's was subtle, almost imperceptible, and it occurred to Lana that in some ways her little sister was rather like a snake herself, though of course she didn't think of it as an insult. To an untrained eye, Lisa could come across as cold, much like how many dismissed snakes as emotionless beasts without feeling.

But Lana knew better.

* * *

 _AN: Thank you for reading._


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